2018 Valspar Golf Championship in Tampa, FL

[Dr. Manhattan]

29 minutes ago, Ty_Webb said:

Does anyone seriously think that Tiger is not one of the best ten players in the world right now? His OWGR is way behind, but that's a function of the system not his golf right now. If he keeps advancing at the pace he has been for the past few weeks, early April is going to be VERY interesting indeed!

 

He is 5th on PGA Tour in scoring average this season and the first 6/14 of his rounds seemed very rusty (Torrey/Riviera). You can tell he is getting more comfortable with each new round he plays. 

He is Top 15 in world ranking points per start over the last two years, but he only has 8 starts and the minimum divisor is 40 events. He is playing with house money for the next 18 months. Earned zero points between March 2016 and the end of November 2017. 

[ZappyAd]

Well done to Paul Casey - he's put in some good performances over the last few years in the tournaments I've watched and it was good to see him finally get a win.  I also enjoy the little conversations he has with his caddy during the coverage.

Obviously pretty impressed with the way Tiger is coming back.  He seems a bit softer edged at the moment.  Caught him smiling a few times during the round and the media people seem to think he is much more engaging during interviews.  Will be interesting to see if this is the 'new' older Tiger or if he hardens up a bit as he gets more into contention.

I did think though that a couple of times when he was picking the ball up or changing clubs around the green he looked like his back was bothering him.  Not sure if he said anything afterwards but I wonder if it is 100%.  Could be just the process of getting back up to speed with playing regular tournament golf - I hope it holds up.

[iacas]

 

[MSchott]

Maybe I'm drinking the Kool Ade but I have to imagine the top players are shaking in their shoes over Tiger's rapid progression along with his apparent good health. No one should be surprised if soon he's once again the best player in the world if his back holds out.

[turtleback]

9 hours ago, Zeph said:

The strokes lost putting was primarily because his irons weren't as sharp and he had long putts. The other days he was 1.3-1.5 SG approach, last day he was 0.6. He hit 14 greens on Sunday and had almost 2 putts per GIR.

He definitely had a few good looks on Sunday too and didn't putt as well as Saturday, but many of the birdie putts came from 20-50 feet. 

This was my impression as well.  Just watching, and not looking at any stats it seemed like the difference was more proximity to the hole than the putting.  He might have putted better if he had hit it closer.  He just wasn't as sharp as Saturday.

I also wonder if his full stamina is back.  One of the interesting things he said post-round that we never heard, back in the day, was that he wasn't going to hit any balls on Monday, and he said it like a guy who was tired.

In any case, most fun on a non-football Sunday in a long time, for me.  I had despaired of ever seeing the real Tiger again, but I think there is a real chance.  I was also very happy for Casey, as for some unknown reason İ have always liked him.  I was REALLY hoping for a 3-way playoff with Casey, Tiger, and Patrick.

[nevets88]

A regular tour event garners kind of a major and last major of the year numbers.

 

[jbishop15]

7 minutes ago, turtleback said:

I also wonder if his full stamina is back.  One of the interesting things he said post-round that we never heard, back in the day, was that he wasn't going to hit any balls on Monday, and he said it like a guy who was tired.

I think his stamina will be fine. He's only played a few rounds of tournament golf this year, and that kind of physical conditioning takes time to return. He'll be as fit as he can be, I suspect. 

[turtleback]

1 minute ago, jbishop15 said:

I think his stamina will be fine. He's only played a few rounds of tournament golf this year, and that kind of physical conditioning takes time to return. He'll be as fit as he can be, I suspect. 

I agree.  It just seemed like the stamina might still have a little ways to go.  I'd be surprised if we see that kind of fatigue in a few weeks.  

[jbishop15]

Just now, turtleback said:

I agree.  It just seemed like the stamina might still have a little ways to go.  I'd be surprised if we see that kind of fatigue in a few weeks.  

Agreed. He looked tired on Sunday a few times. Riviera he looked exhausted. 

I think that's why he's pushing himself into tournaments he doesn't usually play. Playing himself into shape for the Big Ones. 

[iacas]

I don't think he's as "exhausted" as people are suggesting here. If he was THAT tired, he'd not play two weeks in a row like this. He's taking ONE whole day off, guys, today. And he's still going to lift, and play with his kids, and whatever else. He's just not touching a golf club.

The guy works out. I don't think he's "exhausted."

If anything, it's a bit more mental than anything. This is his first time being back in years. YEARS.

[Pretzel]

2 minutes ago, iacas said:

If anything, it's a bit more mental than anything. This is his first time being back in years. YEARS.

I agree. I think on Sunday he didn't look exhausted as much as he looked like he was a bit exasperated with the grind and how close he was with a lot of things that either came close or felt like a missed opportunity (the putt on 4, the putt on 7, the putt on 8, the chip on 9, the poor tee shot and forced lay up on 11, the really short putt on 14 after that great drive, and the chip on 15). At least that was what I thought it looked like.

[nevets88]

Looking at the top 15-20 guys on the leaderboard, not too many in their 20s. Yay for the old guys.

[colin007]

Tiger and I are absolutely kicking ourselves over that piss-poor first putt on 14 (?), which turned out to be the difference....

[nevets88]

If Woods, Reed and Casey got into a playoff, Casey gets eliminated first, it would have been weird with the same exact outfits. Who are you rooting for? I'm rooting for the guy in the red shirt.

[Ty_Webb]

55 minutes ago, iacas said:

I don't think he's as "exhausted" as people are suggesting here. If he was THAT tired, he'd not play two weeks in a row like this. He's taking ONE whole day off, guys, today. And he's still going to lift, and play with his kids, and whatever else. He's just not touching a golf club.

The guy works out. I don't think he's "exhausted."

If anything, it's a bit more mental than anything. This is his first time being back in years. YEARS.

With you 100% on this. It's not that he was physically tired, but it's draining to play under pressure and under that kind of focus and intensity. He hasn't done that in really 5 years and with everything that he has riding on this I think it would be stunning if he weren't feeling mentally frazzled at the end of it. 

I think it's going to be very interesting to see how Bay Hill goes. It's basically been his playground and he has so many good memories of that place. If he gets himself into contention there or happens to win it, I think the way that goes will be very telling for the Masters. Majors are obviously a different story and he seems to have lost his mojo in those since 2009 when YE Yang did him in. I hope that we get 2001 Tiger at Augusta (mentally at any rate - that's the last time I bet on a golf tournament - too much of a crap shoot most of the time, but I knew he was going to win that Masters). That would be amazing.

On the other hand, if he puts together a mediocre showing at Bay Hill, I think that would temper (my) expectations quite a bit. I guess what I'm thinking is either this week was a flash in the pan or it was another step in his "recovery". If it was another step in the right direction, then we could be in for a doozy. If it was a flash in the pan, then we could be in for a snoozy. Not sure which way it's going to go. I really hope the former, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was the latter. I guess I'm a bit jaded from the past few times he "came back".

[colin007]

6 minutes ago, Ty_Webb said:

Majors are obviously a different story and he seems to have lost his mojo in those since 2009 when YE Yang did him in. 

I've said this many times on this site, I think that was a (possibly "the") pivotal moment in Tiger's career.

[jbishop15]

3 minutes ago, colin007 said:

I've said this many times on this site, I think that was a (possibly "the") pivotal moment in Tiger's career.

I don't put much stock into things like that, really. Tiger had his scandal and injuries soon followed after this. 

[Ty_Webb]

2 minutes ago, colin007 said:

I've said this many times on this site, I think that was a (possibly "the") pivotal moment in Tiger's career.

Before that happened, he had never lost a major with the lead going into the final round. I remember asking people what would be the first to get broken. Would he win from behind, would he lose from in front or would neither happen. A few people said neither (this was around 2008 when he was out with his leg and knee issues), more said he would lose from in front than that he would win from behind. I was sure he would win from behind. I was wrong. Has happened before and likely will again. He went from invincible to vincible in one round of golf. Has to weigh on him. I do believe that the reason he won the 14 times before that when he had the lead is that he was just better than everyone else. 

Incidentally, I could buy that he hated losing that PGA so much that he spent some years subconsciously not exposing himself to that feeling again (by not getting in that position again). In 2013, he won 5 times including the Players and I think at least one WGC. He didn't really show up in any of the majors though. Best player of his generation, playing better than anyone else at the time and he didn't really show up in the majors. Interesting to ponder why. Especially as a player who had done so so much in his career. That said, I think he was so good for a spell (a long spell) that we expected so much of him, but it's RFH to win major championships. We were spoiled. I hope we get spoiled again!